An Open Challenge - Nymblesmith

29 Dec An Open Challenge

Posted at 22:31h in doing things right by Lyle Smith 0 Comments

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TO ALL RUNNING SHOE MANUFACTURERS

The Challenge:

Make a shoe for: the mid to fore-foot striker who lands on the outside of the foot, does not over pronate, has sufficient, but not excessive heel to toe drop and will last more than 200-250 miles on mainly road surfaces without causing undue stress on either foot.

I have yet to find ANY shoe that meets these specs. And it’s been a long search. I’ve needed one since I was 10 years old. I believe all of you running shoe companies have abdicated your responsibility to your customers in this way.

I understand your shoes have a natural breakdown that occurs over time – call it the wear/tear effect. I also even understand that the business requires a certain level of built-in obsolescence. You do have to sell shoes, after all. But I do not feel it is unreasonable to ask for one shoe in your line that’s made for the way I run – and to date, none of them really are. And again, it is not unreasonable to expect someone somewhere to make a shoe that I can expect to last more than 5 or 6 weeks.

With all the brilliant design minds and technology at your hands, I’m sure meeting this challenge is possible. My only question is whether there is a shoe company out there with the intestinal fortitude to build it.

My gauntlet is tossed at your feet. I hope one of you will pick it up. Send me a note if you’d like to discuss it.

Graphic Evidence of Your Shoes